I see the vehicles lined up in my rear vision mirror and I see my eyes in that mirror saying ‘so what’. I’m Thug. The cars behind me don’t bother me, It’s this car that makes me STRAIGHT. I got a taste in my mouth saying ‘This car is dope , hope we don’t get killed’ kind of taste mixed with a prayer saying ‘God please don’t let us die in the desert’ kind of prayer. The taste and the prayer give a constant happiness, but that’s mostly private moments in my head. I hear the engine. We drive feet up, not cause we’re gansta just cause the engine bay heats our feet. The sign says 65 but anything above 50 makes this boat rock….. should we be surprised that it blew up. We’d be surprised if it didn’t. Yet, after every where we’d been too. New York to California, here we were in South Central LA, of all places, broken down. There’s comfort knowing that the people you care for are sleeping & safe when you leave them. There’s less comfort leaving your family in a Compton carpark asleep while you walk your way through the streets of Inglewood at 3am to find a car and an OUT. My boy Roy from ‘Rewa’, introduced me to NWA, and Easy E at boarding school and when the car stopped I knew where I was. This was the ACTUAL hood, I would just walk like I was ‘Packin’, and I would walk down the middle of the road. Like a Tokoroa bushman. The irony was my humble heartfelt prayers for safety that morning where mixed with memories of being an undercover demon listening to my thug sounds as a teen in my dorm room with my boy Roy. Music of my misspent youth don’t smell the same, taste the same, or feel the same, when your walking through the streets of Rodney King. Its an uncomfortable hum, not an artistic outlet at 3am. By 8am we were sorted. New car, morning kisses, kids fed, bags packed, everyone woke and ready to roll. The morning hug felt richer. The bowl of cocoa pops UHT milk tasted like Puddin’. Life is richer when you get to leave your Patu pretend Gun at the door. Prayer seems to float to the heavens a lot easier it don’t taste the same, don’t feel the same when family is sleeping in a car park in Compton. It tastes better. #thuglife #travel

I can’t scoop up the feeling I have of being with family and friends in New Zealand with people I care for and I know care for me. I can’t bag the feeling on a camera I had when my feet were cold and I asked my sister to sit on them so they would be warm just so I could have a quick comfortable nap. I know she came to talk to me but I was just tired. The picture would mean little to you but I would probably try to capture them anyway. You would look at the picture and say hey there’s an old dude sleeping on a couch next to a fire and some white girl is sitting on his feet watching TV. I can’t capture the feeling that I have that whenever I’m here in Nu Zeeluun that I feel like this land has a spirit and it’s calling me out, I can’t prove it but I’m drawn to it, the people and the land, the lakes and the streams, the sea and the mountains calling me back, but it’s also got a cold chill too that says hang on bro and then it just makes me want to eat awesome food, lots of it. Lots and lots of it, and when I eat lots of that awesome food in the cold weather sitting next to a warm fire I can’t feel ancestral whispers around me or have a discerning englighted spirit because all I do is complain about having sore guts from eating too much Creamed Paua. I missed the whisperings of the river because I had munted thoughts from my orange chocolate chip ice cream induced sugar head coma. I run to the food like I run away from from a poisonous snake. The land is calling me back but that chill is saying you can’t handle the truth. No picture could possibly capture that much awesomeness and the beautiful smile it comes with, or the moans of happy unhappiness, but it’s important that I feel all of that business. The spirit of the people and the land, the cold arctic southerly wind that surely causes my gall bladder to pass, the sugary chocolate burger fuel thick shake over consumption, the Aroha of ‘the Aunties’, the appreciation, the gratitude, the regret of eating just one too many Blue Cod fillets. I’m not a robot and I feel it all and some. A picture won’t capture that so all I can do is paint my ideas in words. Captain Kirk signing out. Good bye New Zealand

We’ve been called Rolling Stones more than once in our lives. The truth is I love stability. I love it not in myself but in the world around me. I love that huMan behaviour is predictable. Love, fear, jealously, envy. I love that people want to buy a house and settle down and are happy to work a job for their lifetime. That a child wants to follow in their parents footsteps. I love that. I love that in the distant and near future I can visit these people and know that they are happy. What I know is that I am different and I choose a somewhat different path, but I am happy. The only certainty in my life, I tell the children, is that I will give them uncertainty , and it will be beautiful and it will be whatever they want it to be……. Papa was a rolling stone, where ever he lay his hat, was is home ……… maybe that’s me, maybe it’s what I want for my crew. Surely they will decide for themselves eventually what they want. Maybe this season of our life will end and I will look at my life in pictures with reverence and respect for the creator of it all…… but that season is not here yet, and we continue on this path of beautiful instability. Travel. Sometimes we insects, sometimes we act like we belong in the big smoke. #travel #family #familyfirst #yeti

Melaka in a photo. Photo with a story. A couple of Buddhist monks and some Malaysian Muslim women and Sri Lankan tourist hanging out at the Portuguese red square, standing next to a Christian chapel built in 1763 by the Dutch conquerors with a roman style fountain built in 1905 by the British for the queen who died. Meanwhile in the background a Saudi film crew is filming the Indian food stalls for Sadi airlines while we are sipping from Thai coconuts watching the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year as they ride past on the pimped out rickshaws blasting Hindi rap music on their German speaker systems. The Malaysian army are standing on the road blowing whistles to make sure the white tourist don’t get run over while the monk is using his iphone 7 to take photos of someone interesting…….. we have just eaten pancakes from a guy who family migrated from china 500 years ago and is using his families 300 year old recipe and 100 year old food moulds to cook us a traditional feed with some western style chocolate banana bannoife cream to finish it off. While our family of Polynesian ancestory sit here waiting for their dad who is trying to fix my Brazilian made jandal that broke, again. While the boys complain about being hungry for McDonalds. So where do you point your camera? Melaka in a photo. Photo with a story. #peoplearebeautiful #melaka #malaysia #travel #familytravel

Melaka was once a major port on the Silk Road. The world traders came here to buy things like cinnamon, clove, vanilla, and later on rubber, tea and tobacco. It’s also the reason why you have so many beautiful looking people because many of the ships crews jumped from their ships and never returned to their homes. The Portuguese settled here, 500ish years ago, the Chinese arrived here without women because the emperor wouldn’t allow females to travel so they married the Malays. The Dutch rolled in later and made some dope stuff. Some Indians jumped off their boats and made some cool Indian stuff and then the British came and made some cool London looking stuff. And then they had a big dance party and married each other but they wanted some churches, and mosques, Hindi and Buddhist and Taoist temples and stuff so they could all get married and then they swapped recipes and stuff…….. short history lesson don’t mess with Melaka. #travel #family #melaka #malaysia #dance

The Portuguese settled here, 500ish years ago, the Chinese arrived here without women because the emperor wouldn’t allow females to travel so they married the Malays. The Dutch rolled in later and made some dope stuff. Some Indians jumped off their boats and made some cool Indian stuff and then the British came and made some cool London looking stuff. And then they had a big dance party and married each other but they wanted some churches, and mosques, Hindi and Buddhist and Taoist temples and stuff so they could all get married and then they swapped recipes and stuff…….. short history lesson because some dude told me it, don’t mess with Melaka. #travel #family #melaka #stpaulscathedral #malaysia #dance

Weird wonderful and whacky street love mixed with some Pokémon gangsta rap….. if your thinking about taking a nice stroll around the state of Melaka’s 15th century Portuguese settlement in Malaysia this isn’t the way to do it…… but if you do want to take the crew for a somewhat festive boogie ride in a non traditional rickshaw fitted with its own 2000w speaker and amp and don’t want them to fall asleep in the humidity of the day this will do it……. well worth the smiles following them on my girly bike – because tall man bikes cost more #melaka #malaysia #pokemon #chinesenewyear #family #travel #gangsta

Perhaps the reason why I never valued art as a youngster was that the art I appreciated was not yet created. Perhaps it was because I didnt like the thought of going to a marae (the only gallery I knew) because it was a reminder to me of death. I loved the bone and wood carvings of my cultural heritage but I could never relate to the art work found in the louvre. France, Paris!!! That stuff was so far removed from my home town of Tokoroa. How can a kid so far removed from something ever relate to it or find an appreciation of it? They seldomly do. A good piece of artwork growing up usually involved the colours red, green, yellow and black and reminded you of summer days in Jamaica. Haha it’s still artwork that I appreciate now. In the days when the TV signal turned on again at 7am if you woke up earlier you could see an image of the Mona Lisa…… and so that was it. Mona Lisa, for me anyway, was always accompanied with the thought of, why isn’t the muppet show on yet?…… This week Penang has been all about the art work. The crew climbs over it, touches it, goggles it. It’s alive. We didn’t know this even existed in Penang before arriving. It’s on the streets, it’s on the foot paths and back alleys and (trumpets please) its free, fah-reeee, free. We stumbled on this piece in a back alley when we got lost the other day. Beautiful and made with a vision. It is something that is often missing in my life. Vision. Perhaps for the rest of my life when I look at this picture I will remember this happy time in my life cruising the back alleys of Penang with my family, like I remember missing out on the muppet show as a kid and bobbing my head to some sick reggae beats as a youth. Some good souls have done some good work here and all I’m going to do is share that. So to the artist of the world, whatever you do, good work you good souls. #travelwithkids #malaysia #penang #family #streetart

Penang is the home of modern street art and from what I’ve seen is one of the most religiously diverse communities I’ve seen…. I may have made up the part about being the home of street art but there’s heaps of cool stuff around in the dark alleys of Georgetown. Nah it’s the home of modern street art because I said it is. Brown bricks brown people #penang #malaysia #travel #family #familytravel #travelwithkids

There’s some things that shouldn’t exist like mosquitoes, ear hairs, jandal pluggers that break and long term hatin’ (short term hating is ok, and sometimes it’s fun) and there are somethings that shouldn’t exist but are actually pretty cool like the PPAP song, scars, morning 2’s, my morning deep thinking (ie this stuff) and this building that we are living next to for the week. So ugly but so perfect. It is because it is Boon Wah. Almost made me sing my college alma mater YO. #travel #family #ppap #dopestuff

Indian cuzzies….. same same but different….. I looked on hoping to make eye contact with the older generation of people but their gaze never met mine. I wished for a moment that I looked like a professional but here I was with no shoes on and the clothes I wore to bed the night before walking around their streets and walking into the midst of their ceremonies. I wish now that I wore some semblance of Maori-ness and perhaps I could have connected as an indigenous bro, but I didn’t all I had was my Maori nose. Instead I walked away bummed out that I didn’t get the shot with the old Indian dude with a white beard anointing people’s head with some sweet smelling oil. Chose not to take the photo incase I offended some one in a culture I know little about. I didn’t want to be the guy laughing at the haka, or the guy laughing at the kilt and bagpipes kind of guy. It was hardly like I could talk to someone about it, up until that moment I had never even heard about them and I wasn’t planning on running back to a computer and googling them. However I did see these dudes smiling at my hair so I took it as an invite to take a selfie with them. So that photo will do. It’s pongolle day for the Indians of India of malaysia and in the future I will at least wear my jandals. Surely that will give me confidence to ask and say what’s up YO. A bad photo is better than none #indigenouspride #travel #pongolle

we won’t be able to do it in any other part of the world….. we are going to go outside pretend like I’m fixing my jandal, you guys get ready and then I will jump up and we will take a photo before the security dudes get here…. boom…… it’s a sport……… Haere ra, Langkawi. It’s been grand. Tourist photo terrorist. #malaysia #family #travel #langkawi

As for me and my house we will teach them to breathe fire and shoot lighting bolts. They can have fear some other time I ain’t got time for that. Jump on the scooter with dad, get on the canoe with mum, eat that thing, eat this thing, what is it? I don’t know, but it tastes nice. Where we going? I don’t know I can’t understand what they said ….. it will be fun… or not…. let’s just see what happens. Who is that person dad……. a nice person who we just met and I want to talk too…… be nice boys but when you have, breathe fire and walk through the fear…….. TRAVEL our excuse to take lots of photos of ourselves and teach the kids something. Otherwise we are just wasting money. #langkawi #indonesia #travel #family

Watch out dad your hair is going to get caught on the cave…….. glad they were thinking about my hair and not the bats dropping bombs on us. #travel #family #indonesia #langkawi

Now all I need is some chocolate and it will be perfect….. oh there’s no chocolate….. there’s no shops, there’s no people…… hang on, that sounds perfect. Sorry I was over thinking, we need to go there……. Mum and dad – making big decisions. #hatersgonnahate #family #travel #indonesia #langkawi

Conflict in a puddle

Maybe I should feel bad for taking the photo. Maybe I should feel bad for not feeling bad. Vulnerable and alone on the side of the road with no adult supervision I took a photo of two naked kids playing with a plastic bag. Naked, playing in a puddle, with someone’s rubbish we walked by, but they were laughing and so I took the photo. Camera on my hip, like a shotgun and me looking the other way so I wouldn’t get busted and feel like a pervert…… hopefully anyone with an Instagram page that reads this will know that I took this photo for my kids and for you. Even the most vulnerable people in the world who picked up your rubbish had something to smile about in 2016. This is Lombok, Indonesia…… and we like it. #parenting #family #travel #lombok #indonesia

Consider the coconuts, consider its tree, we use each part of the coconut, that’s all we need. The trunks and the leaves. …….. the island gives us what we need,
and no one leaves. And when I think of tomorrow, there we are………. the village may think I’m crazy, or say that I drift to far, but once you know what you like, well there you are…….. – since Maui pulled up the sun. #travel

And then the silence and serenity of the moment was broken by the smiling child in our family who sabotaged the sweet jungle air with a fart cannon……. leave or act like it wasn’t us. Big decisions in a flash restaurant. #parenting #travel #family

Lombok’s rotary hoe gangsta’s. Say what’s you want about the people of the world who grow and eat rice….. Their ain’t to many people in the world that grow food for 3 months every year and for the rest of the year watch their cows eat grass, because they can. So they live in shacks, but they don’t have 50 year mortgages, and after every storm you get to build a new one. Drowning in mud but not drowning in debt. Not hard work, just different. Not, my poor just different ……… #lombok #indonesia #family #travel #rice #gangstalove

Could have been sad that there was thunder in our ear, that the surf was blown out, that it was raining down from the sky and raining up from the sea but we weren’t…….. a bad day rolling around the world with your family is better than a good day at work by yourself…….. still, it would have nice to have a surf……. without them. Haha……. #familytravel #indonesia #lombok #familyfirst #parenting

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, I only know what I can do, and who I can do it with, and that will do. And most of the other stuff is just do do. Pah-renting, spend money buy stuff, spend money do stuff, spend time do stuff with no stuff. In another country where people have no money and no stuff. #travel #familyfirst #lombok #indonesia #familytravel

Master of the mountain, the top dog, and the reason why the kids will stay close to us.

But I got no shoes. It’s too humid. I can’t breathe. Dad the monkeys will attack us….. I love it when my kids tell me they don’t want to do anything but stay on the wifi and sleep all day……. It makes me want to wake up earlier and make them climb big mountains and giggle at them quietly, and take photos of them complaining…. one of my great pah-renting past times. Christmas is over. #lombok #travel #family #parenting #indonesia

Bali it’s a wrap….. we jump on a plane to Lombok this morning. We could have caught a boat but since last time we were here, the kids are anti little boats in big swell kind of people……. Why is it that people who don’t own much still find the time to watch a sun setting. Every night it seems like every Balinese is watching the sun go down. And then there’s us. Later Bali bags are packed. Kei te Rangi. #travel #family #bali #indonesia #sunset

Dad how come Santa has got black hair? How come he’s on a horse? Because we are in Bali son….. we are in Bali and he has black hair and black gloves and that’s what he does here……. And so that day fades into the past. We are likely to forget this day years into the future but are greatful for the time we have together……. and photos and videos we get to watch at some random moment in that same future to remind us of it all. Black Santa on a little horse, cause we’re in Bali. #christmas #bali #family #travel #blacksantasmatter

There’s always time for a selfie. Chosen mode of transportation and it’s all mine for 6 bucks a day. There was once a day when we could fit 5 Morgan’s on a scooter. They don’t make scooters like they used or the little dudes are quickly turning into big dudes. ‘Safe as’ so don’t worry. #bali #familyfirst #traveller #traveller #family #indonesia #rideordie

Kuta lines. It used to talk about the famous surf reefs bending waves onto its sandy beaches. Today as we saw the sun setting all you could see was lines of rubbish. Rainy season in the Bali mountains purge the rivers onto the famous beaches that brought the people that over years have brought the rubbish here. My unqualified guess is that they will clean it for the tourist and some of it will be taken back to the mountains to be dumped again. You could start by Eating Nasi Goreng and fruit and avoiding Macca’s. Kuta lines. #bali #family #travel #rainyseason

The golden hour….. sometimes its sunrise or sunset, or it’s at the end of a well lived life, a productive year or goals achieved. Today it’s when laughs are loudest and water is all that matters. The golden hour. Hello Bali, our old friend. #bali #indonesia #indonesiaparadise #family #watercolor #action #travel #traveling #familyfirst

Dab this – We thought about keeping our travels to ourselves this time around. In the end though after talking to friends and family AND thinking it out with ourselves, we decided to just roll with it. We’re even considering stepping up our game. We could never have had the experiences we did, and met the people we did without social media. So we packed up the house again and moved out, gave stuff away, threw stuff on the verge, gave stuff to the salvos, and left the cars, tools, and TV for friends and family that will hopefully use them well. We feel honoured to share our stories with you. We feel blessed to share our smiles. We look forward to meeting the locals or at least watching them from a distance. We look forward to the time we have together and more importantly we have very little money. So we’re BACK. Bali – Lombok – Gili – Penang – Langkawi – Melaka – Kuala Lumpur – Bali. Dab this!!

We had plans to buy a cow, milk it and live a simple life this year. Literally. That didn’t work out. It was part of the reason why we decided not to connect to internet. Until 2 months ago. We wanted to keep the feeling of being together, undistracted from each other, not concerned with finding happiness and activities outside of our own family adventures But it was all a bit unrealistic ……………….so after 6 months we jumped back on the bandwagon, we are hooked up and got wi-fi, not the neighbours either, its our own. We got internet!!!! ……………. It’s a shame that we can’t replicate the feelings we have when we are on the road, trying to find food that was palatable, attempting to communicate with people who don’t understand us, sometimes look down on us, sometimes make us feel privileged to be us. It’s hard to replicate the feeling of waking up and not knowing what the day will bring, who we will meet, where we will sleep, it’s difficult to replicate the vulnerability felt of being alone but knowing it’s alright, it’s a’ight because we are together. We strived to keep that feeling. We wanted simplicity We are still together but everyone is so distracted. Life is too easy when, there’s no real problems because you think you have time, you aren’t scared for your life you have good vehicles, and people around you speak english. Life is too easy because we think we have time ………….. So to all the friends we made, to all the folks that gave us mad love and to all the haters that hated. That has all been steak for breakfast. How are the Morgans? We’re awesome and thanks for wanting to know. There’s no regrets about not having the crap we sold that we once thought was important to take our crew travelling. Thanks to our Insta family, who shacked us up as we travelled around the planet, who looked after us, invited us to meet up, ate with us, and continually send messages of support. There’s no regrets. None, Zilch, Zero. There’s more to share, just not now. Love us………

Too cheap to hire a guide for the day I picked up a book we found in the hotel lobby…….. Cause that’s how I roll, boyeee!!!! We learned our lesson the next day, who wants to read when there’s so much to see. We watched a few YouTube videos and went half-sies with some fellow travellers, found ourselves an awesome guide…. The book was good, the guide was better. Two days later we picked up a tuk tuk driver whose family was all killed during the reign of pol pot. He lived because he stayed home to milk the cow when everyone else went on the bus to see “the new house” the government was giving them…… The book was good, the guide was better, the tuk tuk driver and his stories made me want to stand up and get angry. Pol Pot, what a cock. On one hand the Cambodians have these beautiful temples where no one is really sure where they come from, some Chinese dude wrote a page in his journal when he visited 1000 years ago and that’s it, a beautiful mystery. That’s dope. And on the other hand they have a group of nutters who exterminated their own people because they wanted only people who could grow rice. That’s whacked!!

It wasn’t for applause, to impress, or for praise, it was because we are dreamers and we were doing our thing……. which is better than being a dreamer and doing nothing……. We were hot, tired, dehydrated, attacked by monkeys, hungry extorted and ripped off on the day of this photo, but we were happy. I ain’t mad or sad that it’s over… I’m happy that it happened, happy we shared. Not for applause, praise, or to impress but because good things should be shared. Didn’t have to keep a journal for my offspring. We’ve got a blog, Insta, Facebook, YouTube and one day a book…… Happiness is not sitting on a computer game all day, happiness is getting attacked by monkeys. #family #travel #familyfun

Kids, Let the history books show that I turned up. Travelling the world was not enough for you, what I wanted for you was to share my New Zealand with you. I wanted you to feel a connection to this land, I wanted you to feel the language, And feel the spirit of the people. It was stink to be here by myself, but I showed up for 3.5 months. I wanted you to know what it felt like to go to school with ‘just feet’. I wanted you to know what it felt like to be maori, among Maori and decide what human you were going to be. I wanted you to know what it meant to work on the marae or the chapel for feelings. It didn’t work out, I’m coming back. I’m not going to apologise for being here by myself. It sucked for me and your mum. When you get older and feel like your life is not complete, that perhaps there’s something missing, and wonder who you are, how you fit into this world and how you can help other people. This journey here in New Zealand, for you, would have been part of understanding that. A small but important part. Let the history books show that I turned up, and that you kids moaned. Thank you to the friends and family that supported us. I’m sitting at the airport disappointed that it didn’t work out. We came expecting it to be a solo journey but were made richer because of that support. If your tired of our light and positivity take a nap, we’ll still be here when you wake up.
If this ramble sounds familiar you are my people.

Stood at the top of that mountain and felt like the Man-tis, had to get to that spot but the mountain brought me to my knees and lit me up, had me looking like a red fire engine and breathing like an amateur yoga instructor. A hard 12.5 up and a fast 12.5 down. Two peanut slabs, 2 bananas, 2 bowls of berries, and water. Gone done did it. 7 hours………There wasn’t much pigment walking on the mountain today, the only thing brown is the rocks and the grass and me…… What’s up with that? Thought I was in New Zealand……. But it is so good to be hanging with happy tourist again. #tongariroalpinecrossing #newzealandnatural #newzealand #emeraldlake

There’s no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard. No song that I could sing. But I can try for your heart
Our dreams, And they are made out of real things Like a shoebox of photographs With sepia-toned loving. Yeah, it’s always better when we’re together. Mmm, we’re somewhere in between together. Well, it’s always better when we’re together. Yeah, it’s always better when we’re together….. Not my words, not my song, but we sit in a field learning the music. Uke on the grass. Fish in the pan. Corn in the pot. Pipi’s on the barbeque. Paua, white sands. #goodjobgod #purenewzealand #newzealand #northland #ngapuhi #

I rolled out the back of the car after a stink sleep sleeping next to my snoring daughter and looking at this scene I thought….. Gee, nice job God……… This is the norty north a special part of New Zealand, nice job God. #newzealandnatural #purenewzealand #newzealand #bayofislands #northland #nicejobgod #nortynorth This is Paua, whitesands.

It’s real and it’s home homies. A Bath better than most of the worlds drinking water. This is my New Zealand. A wash and a nice supply of watercress. Take your jandals off and show some respect. #newzealand #newzealandnatural #purenewzealand

I walk to places like this. I meditate. I think. I talk to myself like a crazy person. I get happy. I move. At times, I over think……. I must be getting old. #littlewaihi #bayofplenty #newzealand

Excuse me. Can you tell me is the water very warm……. Mate that depends where you are from…… I’m from the Middle East…… In that case it’s freezing. I look around this beach and we are the only people fully clothed. New Zealand made but we are soft. #newzealand #newzealandnatural #newzealandmade

How come no one is here dad……. Because we are in New Zealand, and you are only allowed one person on the beach at a time……. I think it’s because the water is so cold dad…….. There are so many beautiful beaches up here. #roadtrip #familytravel #newzealand #newzealandnatural #purenewzealand #houhoura #northlandnz

15 scoop ice cream please. Because we can….. New Zealand will always be home though we haven’t lived here for many years. Whenever we fly into New Zealand we have made this stop a family tradition. Tomorrow we will suffer from jet lag and sore guts, but today we will dine and be happy……. #pokenoicecream #purenewzealand #newzealand

It’s slow and long but awesome…… This Christmas on New Zealand roads just chill. If your sitting behind us in traffic because we are too slow don’t get angry at us. Get angry at yourself for not waking earlier to drive….. Sit back and relax, put your feet up, do you want this feeling to ever stop, why you in a hurry hurry, no need to worry, worry. It’s a celebration to party party……..#purenewzealand #newzealandnatural #newzealand #orewa #familytravel #roadtrip

The run up turned into a walk and then it turned into a Hang on we need to stop and take some photos. #bayofplenty #newzealand

Don’t hate, just appreciate. Is there any other developed country in the world where it’s socially and culturally acceptable to wear ‘just feet’ to school. You don’t even have to have them well manicured as long as they don’t stink. Maybe it’s just small town New Zealand, but it’s so refreshing. Daughter asked for a hover board for Christmas, I said no and they went outside and played on the mobility scooters. Because that’s what you do in small town New Zealand. Green and free, where you wear just feet to school and most of the time a top. This is Cuzzy time. #newzealand #purenewzealand #newzealandnatural

Ohh look watercress jarred jump over there and grab some ….. Son, I jumped on Facebook this morning to see where you guys were and while I was looking I thought oh that’s right you are at my home, asleep….. #tewaihou #watercress

We needed to say thank you to all those who have been apart of our lives over the last 4 months here in North America. Like the UK, Asia, and Europe before, thank you. Some people have been just a few brief minutes perhaps never to be see again, that made an impact on us. Others have been long awaited reunions, long planned but never fulfilled until now. We have been with family and old friends. We have made many new friends and in some cases meeting up with many, just didn’t work out. Regardless of our relationships to all of you people who allowed us to take your time and who are now apart of our family history, we feel greatly indebted to you all. On most occasions we came to you tired, worn and smelly and left happy, clean and full of stories to tell and memories to look back on. Thank you. I can honestly say that this is not what I thought travel would be, but it has made our travels all the more richer. We slept on your driveways, under your trees, in your rooms, on your floors, beds and on your streets. Our RV has left oil marks on your streets as we have eaten food on your tables, picked fruit from your trees and learned many things from all of you. Thank you for now and forever. We felt your love on all parts of this continent and hope to repay that love one day. He aha te mea nui o te au. Te tangata, te tangata, te tangata…… What is the most important thing in the world, it is the people, the people, the people. It’s not a wrap yet we got 2 more days, but wo unto the ungrateful dick who doesn’t say thank you.

One day – our life has been heaps of ‘one day’…… We will do……. I think we can say we did a whole lot of our one days, and we can say remember when….. Many times it’s a place we never heard of and then we think this place is heaps better then that thing we wanted to do that ‘one day’. We have a few of those. This was the thing that was heaps better than the ‘one day’ thing. It’s not the Grand Canyon this is Sedona. Photo of the day goes to the parents, sorry kids. And our bro’s from different area codes. This is Sedona, Arizona. A short 7 hour drive from LA driving in the fast lane. #sedona #sedonaarizona #arizonadesert #arizona #redrocks

Kei Te Rangi. The count down is now officially on. We are leaving this big bag part of the world in 3 days and in 3 days will eating ice cream in a small country town of New Zealand, in a place called Pokeno. We arrived in LA at midnight and got upto some late night adventures. Not too crazy but as crazy as we can get as 30-40ish non drinking, non drug taking, hungry, tired parents can get while caring for their four children. So all we did was drive around the empty streets of Hollywood and Beverley hills and take photos. It was cool, in LA it felt like nobody was awake and everyone that was awake was standing in a line some where waiting for the Black Friday sales to start. This pic is the Hollywood hills and this is LA. Nobody was awake in this part of LA and these people don’t stand in lines for Black Friday specials and by the looks of their houses they probably own the shops giving the discounts. #losangeles #california #familytravel.

St Louis Missouri. This is the gateway arch. The gateway to the west. 3 hours south of Chicago (on a nice day). It’s almost our last hurrah here in the US before we fly out of the country into a New Zealand summer. There was more than one local who asked us. ‘So you have travelled around the world, why did you come here for’?…. What do you mean, this thing is pretty cool, and shiny and the people awesome. #stlouis #missouri #thegatewayarch #familytravel

Earlier this year we were in Rome visiting the Trevi fountains and they covered in scaffolding. We went to the Spanish stairs and it was hidden behind a dust screen, A few temples in the Angkor Wat complex had excavators at work, the Prague chapel covered with workers and this weekend the gateway to the west was under construction but like all of these touristy things still pretty impressive. Bigger than Mount Rushmore, taller by a mile than the Statue of Liberty and bigger than 10 big things all folded up nicely on the ground. #thegatewayarch #missouri #stlouis #familytravel

Ok kids if you get out of the car and take a photo together we will go to Panda Express for a feed…… Ok but can you go outside first and when the camera is ready we will come outside but then we are going straight back in the car. It’s a Deal…. Or bribe.

Home of thee Green Bay Pakers and people who like living in the cold…….
It’s not to bad they say, wait until its really cold…… Aye, Say what?#lambeaufield #greenbaypackers #wisconsin #familytravel

We slept in a Walmart car park last night. Bought a blow up mattress and a pump. It was so convenient and also had wifi. Then we woke up feeling like trolls. Put the seats down last night in our minivan rental, watched DVDs, snacked on fresh broccoli, used the Walmart toilet and woke up feeling like a stale sock…… It’s an adventure like riding a scooter in Bali, or catching a train in Vietnam, or bathing in an Austrian stream before going to church. It’s Walmart camping, in Florida. Today we woke up and drove south to as far south as USA gets.

We rocked up to Nu Awlins the day before and we thought it was dumb. Then we came back the next day and sat and watched the world go by. Bands were playing, the sun was out, food tasted better, kids were happy. Even the cheesy art looked better…. A lesson we seem to forget. Don’t go exploring after a big day of travel. It makes everything harder. Nu Awlins it’s not dumb it’s cool. #neworleans #familytravel #frenchquarter

Miami beach night. No sign of Don Johnson, Pitbull, LMFAO, Will Smith or Gloria Estefan. We’re here though, and this is where the party’s at. Apparently. #miaminights #miamiheat #miamilife #familytravel

If I walk across the road just follow me. Vegas it’s a fun chaos but like most of the world we look ahead for the dangers of crazy people. Follow me – it’s code word for look out there is a mostly naked person walking towards us. All a parent has to do is make sure the kids are occupied doing something else……. Hey kids look someone left some money in the fountain, see if you can get some ………..

A very late night yakking. A very early morning to watch a very important rugby World Cup game. A big goodbye followed by a long drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles. A red eye flight from LA to Chicago on a budget airline. Can only mean that we will sleep where ever we want too, in this case it’s Chicago Ohare airport arrivals hall. It’s also means that while this happened 24 hours ago, today was a beautiful write off. #allblackeverything #roadtrippin #familytravel #chicagoohare #teamnosleep

Not all those who wander off are lost #roadtrippin #family #goldengatebridge

Dad can We do it again after this…. Nah, it’s too fast for me. Dad feels sick, ask mum. #arizonastatefair #roadtrippin #familytravel #bestdadever

The sun sets on another chapter. Last night while driving on the 405SB here in LA our Brutus lurched forward like the great ship titanic and came crashing to a shuddering holt. A large bang was heard across the free way and Brutus was no more. DEAD. Not completely dead but dead enough to say ……… LATER. We sat on the freeway for 3 hours trying to fix it. We wanted to push it off a hill, or set it on fire in the desert, or even take it to Mexico and abandon it in a needy neighbourhood to end our road trip. But, Alas Brutus went on his own terms and now Brutus rides no more. Like its predecessor the Taniwha we will love it for the memories it helped us create as a family. To those few who rode with us we feel privileged to share with you the majesty of the beast that was Brutus……… Oh well, that was an adventure, good bye Brutus, you were slow anyway. #familytravel #roadtrippin #brutusrides no more

One hour later we were sitting on the 405SB LA highway. Broken down with no place to go. Let me tell you all I really don’t like LA. This is Venice beach. If it was all beach we could be cool, but it’s not, it’s road, a few crazy interesting peeps, and a few nice people. I officially grant my family the ability to hate LA, because we lost a family member in the Walmart car park this time last week. Oh the stories we could tell. #familytravel #roadtrippin #losangeles

We unloaded all our belongings into a rental car, bought a feed of Maccas, and sat inside quietly eating together. This was our last meal together. The decision was made. We walked away from Brutus and turned around to see our boy saying good bye. Having a talk, and giving it a hug. He was sad, we were all sad. Travelling in America with 4 kids doesn’t get any cooler than rolling in an 81 Chevy Van. Windows down. Like our maiden voyage together sleeping in our first Walmart car park in up state New York many days ago, we slept in it and then left it in a Walmart car park in LA. It was full of memories full of gas and not going with us. We removed the license plates, and told the local ‘brothers’ take what you want. Last we heard people were fighting over it and the police were about to get involved. Cause who don’t like free stuff. Like all of our travels through the year all we have is the sweet memories…….. and photos……. Canada – New York – Los Angeles and a lot of the places in between…… And then it went bang. Love you long time Brutus.

The road is long, with many a winding turns……. It’s a long long road from which there is no return and while we’re on our way there, why not share……… It’s hard to imagine that life could ever be the same. As we travel at 60 mph the land changes with us. Brutus rides coast to coast. #arizona #brutusrides #roadtrippin #familytravel #familyfirst

Beauty and the beast. Comparing cool.

Yeah I took them…… My girls with the only dude that matters. Me. #lasvegas #roadtrippin #familytravel #brutusrides #family #nevada

What happens in Vegas. When Coke is free on the strip, we drink free Coke or we drink water. It’s a thug life. #roadtrippin #cocoacola

Las Vegas it’s a wrap……. Where we going to today dad? This way….. When you wake up we will be somewhere else…… Dad, That’s a dumb answer…. Don’t worry I got this go to sleep….. #nevada #roadtrippin #lasvegas #brutusrides #family